I would like to back up Roger on this by saying that it pays to shop around and find a competent mechanic because most of the differences in bills people have been getting have been due to labor. I will be the first to admit there are a lot of "Grey" areas when it comes to this matter. I just want everyone to keep in mind that legally... Rotax can not specify a maintenance interval on a part they do not sell, for example oil lines, Rotax used to sell oil lines by the meter and you used to get a length of it with a crate engine but that has since changed 8+ years ago before Light Sport came into the picture. Therefore the only person who can specify when to change them out is FD. Thankfully FD has been pretty good at backing up Rotax and togeather, pretty much anything that is rubber is recommended to be replaced by one or both of them. Same goes for fuel lines if any of you were wondering. Wing root hoses, aft of firewall hoses, all these are 100% FD supplied and 100% out of Rotax's control.
Personally, safety has always been a high priority for Roger and I. Sadly I have found over the years that giving the mechanic the right to run something "on condition" has led to a lot of accidents because a mechanic may be worried about giving the customer too big of a bill and losing his business the fallowing years even thou he would of felt better about changing a hose that was showing surface cracks that may or may not of made it to the fallowing years annual. Being a mechanic I appreciate the "back up" we get from our mfgs.
As for the engine mounts there are 3 things that cause them to wear ( Sweating of the rubber over time, heat inside the cowl which can speed up the sweating, and vibration) Personally I think rubber mounts should be replaced every 5 yrs, I will change that statement If someone can show me a picture of one plane that has 5 yrs on it with more than 100hrs flown over that 5 yrs that doesn't have at least one isolator cracked.
I have done a number of these updates now and do yourself a favor and pull the damn engine. Roger and I aren't the smallest guys but I now damn well that we both agree thats its "quicker and easier" to pull the engine. 1.5 hrs off, 2.5hrs on, maybe quicker if you have help.
One more comment on moving the needle clip. According to Rotax the needle should never be changed from its standard position, they set the engines up for 1000 MSL and they think you should keep it that way. Moving the clip dose help fuel burn and does effect EGTs but that is besides the point, there is no technical data to back up the change in positions, if you want to change them Im not going to lose any sleep of it, just keep in mind its not "recommended" The Heavy M/M specifys where the clip should be, but gives no mention of changing it in any SB, SL, or SI... unless I missed something.